About the Book

This book is mainly designed for students and researchers of social sciences and business administration. It is organised into six parts, covering 19 chapters, each comprehensively dealing with varied aspects of the problem under discussion. What distinguishes it from other works on the subject is that it combines the author’s personal observations—based on his extensive research experience—with the experiences of other scholars as reflected in the literature. The aim is not only to acquaint students with the judicious blend of elementary and theoretical knowledge in social research but also guide the researchers with the basic complexities of undertaking research.

The approach to analysis is interdisciplinary while examples from empirical studies conducted in Indian society make the text clearer. The book also offers the readers considerable flexibility in selecting the chapters in view of necessity and usefulness.

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Contents

APPROACH TO SCIENCE

•    Scientific Research: Characteristics, Types and Methods

•    Concepts, Constructs and Variables

•    Hypotheses

•    Logic of Inquiry

DESIGNING OF RESEARCH

•    Problem Formation and Developing Research Questions

•    Research Design

•    Sampling

TECHNIQUES OF DATA COLLECTION

•    Questionnaire and Interview Schedule

•    Interview

•    Observation

•    Case Study

•    Content Analysis

•    Projective Techniques

DATA PROCESSING AND ANALYSIS

•    Data Processing, Tabulation, Diagrammatic Representation and Analysis

•    Measurement and Scaling Techniques

    THEORY BUILDING

•   Models, Paradigms and Theories

STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES

•   Measures of Central Tendency

•   Measures of Dispersion

•   Measures of Association 

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About the Author / Editor

Ram Ahuja retired as Professor of Sociology from the University of Rajasthan in 1988 after teaching for more than three decades. He authored many books, including four translations into Hindi. Some of his books have been adopted as standard text in universities and training academies and for competitive examinations. For nearly two decades, he was guest faculty to several national and state academies and institutions for training IAS, IPS and state administrative officers.

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